Coming to America 2: Eddie Murphy Back, Empire Director to Helm

Announced 30 years after the original release.

A sequel to the 1988 comedy classic Coming to America is officially in the works, with Eddie Murphy set to reprise his role as Akeem and Craig Brewer (Empire, Hustle & Flow) poised to direct.

Reported by Deadline, Paramount Pictures, the studio responsible for the original film, is looking to feature much of the original cast in the film, which includes Arsenio Hall as Akeem’s aide Semmi, Shari Headley as Akeem’s love interest Lisa McDowell, John Amos as her father Cleo McDowell, and James Earl Jones as Akeem’s father Jaffe Joffer, king of Zamunda.

The plot of the sequel will involve Akeem discovering he has a long lost son in America, causing him to return to meet this unlikely heir to the throne. The plot of the original film centered on Prince Akeem leaving Zamunda and traveling to Queens, New York in order to find a suitable wife.

“After many years of anticipation, I’m thrilled that Coming to America 2 is officially moving forward,” said Murphy. “We’ve assembled a great team that will be led by Craig Brewer, who just did an amazing job on Dolemite, and I’m looking forward to bringing all these classic and beloved characters back to the big screen.”

Murphy and Brewer have finished principal photography on the Netflix film Dolemite is my name, a biographical comedy about Rudy Ray Moore, known for his X-rated comedy routines and his character Dolemite, a staple of blaxploitation films starting in the 1970s.

Kenya Barris, known for his work on Black-ish, Girls Trip and the upcoming Shaft film, is set to write a screenplay based on an earlier scropt by Barry Blaustein and David Sheffield, writers of the original film. Murphy is also set to produce while Kevin Misher and Barris will executive produce. No official production or release dates have been announced, but those involved hope production will begin in 2019.